Name:
Laurentian-Acadian-Great Lakes Cliff & Rock Vegetation Group
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This structurally and floristically variable group is found in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. and Canada, and northern New England on both alkaline and acidic cliffs. Overall, vegetation varies from sparse nonvascular vegetation to open-treed or shrubby communities. Acidic cliffs include igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary rock. Woody acidic cliff species may include <i>Juniperus communis, Amelanchier</i> spp., stunted individuals of <i>Betula papyrifera, Picea rubens, Pinus banksiana, Pinus resinosa, Pinus strobus</i>, and <i>Quercus rubra</i>. Shrubs may include <i>Alnus viridis ssp. crispa, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Diervilla lonicera, Juniperus communis, Physocarpus opulifolius</i>, and <i>Vaccinium angustifolium</i>. Common herbs include <i>Athyrium filix-femina, Campanula rotundifolia, Cystopteris fragilis, Danthonia spicata, Deschampsia cespitosa, Dryopteris carthusiana, Dryopteris fragrans, Dryopteris marginalis, Euthamia graminifolia, Fragaria virginiana, Phegopteris connectilis, Poa compressa, Polypodium appalachianum, Rubus pubescens</i>, and <i>Sibbaldiopsis tridentata</i>. Cliff faces include acidic igneous or metamorphic rock (gneiss, schist, granite, and quartzite). Soils are largely absent, confined to cracks and crevices. Extensive cliff formations occur on the shores of the Great Lakes and other large waterbodies; inland locations often support extensive talus slopes at their bases as a result of weathering and rockslides.<br /><br />Alkaline cliff vegetation varies from sparse nonvascular vegetation to open-treed or shrubby communities. Nonvascular alkaline cliff plants (lichens, mosses, and liverworts) are common on the exposed cliff face, but vascular plant cover is sparse and patchy, confined to cracks or between boulders at the base of the slope where thin soils accumulate beneath talus. Overhanging trees from the ridgetop may include <i>Acer saccharum, Thuja occidentalis</i>, and <i>Abies balsamea</i>, and stunted individuals of <i>Betula papyrifera</i> may occur on the cliff face. Other woody plants may include <i>Shepherdia canadensis, Diervilla lonicera, Acer spicatum</i>, and others. Common herbs may include <i>Asplenium trichomanes, Geranium robertianum, Maianthemum canadense, Pellaea glabella, Polypodium virginianum, Pteridium aquilinum</i>, and <i>Trientalis borealis</i>. The bedrock may consist of alkaline igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary rocks. Alkaline rocky cliffs are predominantly dolostone when associated with the Niagaran Escarpment along the northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron shorelines, perhaps best developed on Drummond Island and adjacent Ontario islands. Alkaline basalts characterize these systems along portions of the Lake Superior shoreline, with a generally distinguishable flora from those on dolostone.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40396-{F654E0E8-D3E3-4D80-A583-4DFD42CCDF21}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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